Runner attachment for wheeled vehicles



A. J. Bovo.

EE-. z 1 EE- i l l M w .nq M a u., EEE- llllnlv NITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

ANDREW J. BOYD, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

RUNNER ATTACHMENT FOR WHEELED VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,745, dated March21, 1899.

` Application filed August 13, 1898. Serial No. 688,515. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. BOYD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of NewYork,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RunnerAttachments for Wheeled Vehicles; and I do hereby declare.

novel construction and arrangement o f parts4 hereinafter described andclaimed. v

My invention will be understood by refer ence to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein the same parts are indicated by the same lettersthroughout the several views.

Figure l represents a side elevation, partly in section, the wheels uponthe nearside being removed, illustrating my runner attachment inposition. Fig. 2 represents a rear elevation of a baby-carriage providedwith my runner attachment, the latter being adjusted to its position toadapt the carriage for use as a sled; and Fig. 3 represents a rearelevation of' the carriage with the runner attachment raised fromcontact with the ground, as when not in use as a sled.

A A represent the two runners, curved upwardly at each end and secured,by means of bolts, to clips B B' forlattachment to the front and rearaxles, respectively, ,of the carriage.

Each of these clips is composed of an angular ,runners are so held as toadmit of a swinging mot-ion thereto upon their points of connection withthe said clips b2 b3, respectively.

Upright bracesn a' are preferably provided near the front and rear ends,respectively, of the runners to add rigidity thereto. Preferablyconnected to the rear upright braces a', as at c in Figi, are two shortarms C C,

Atheir fullest extent.

the ends of which short arms are pivotally connected by a rod or arm C.

The joints c2 o2 upon the short arms C C and the intermediate arm C areso formed that the said intermediate arm may be depressed and theshorter arms C C may turn upwardly. and inwardly with relation to theends of the said arm C', as seen in Fig. 3; but by reason of shouldersat c8 c3 upon the ends of the said rod C the said rod C may not be movedupwardly beyond a position in line with the said arms CC, as seen inFig. 2. Thus it will be seen that when the intermediate arm C is movedwith relation to the shorter arms C C to such .a position that the-three arms are in alinement, as shown in Fig.

2, the runners A A will be forced apart to In order to hold thesejointed arms inl this position, I provide as the simplest means a coiledspring D, which is attached at its lower end at CZ to the center of thearm C' and atA its upper end to some convenient portion of thevehicle-such as, for instance, the axle, as shown at d.

In order to hold the runners in a raised position free from the ground,I utilize the ef'- fect of the coiled spring D, as shown in Fig. 3,wherein it will be seen that when the cen- -tral arm C has beendepressed the short outer arms C C will have turned upwardly andinwardly past a vertical position, so that their upper ends converge, aswill be readily seen. The effect of the spring pulling upon the centralarm when the outer arms are in this outer converginggposition has thetendency to hold 'the said arms in these partially-folded positions, andconsequently to hold the runners free from the ground, as shown in Fig.3, above referred to.

, The runners may be lowered by simply grasping the rear end of eachwith a hand and y spreading the same apart, at the same time lifting thecarriage slightly. Y

` To elevate the runners, the attendant might simply place one footupon, the central arm, and by depressing the same the short outer armswill be turned upwardly and inwardly, and as soon as these latter passthe vertical positions the force of the spring acting upon the centralarm will -tend to hold the outer Yarms in these partially-foldedpositions, as

hereinbefore described.

IOO

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In a runner attachment for Wheeled Vehicles, the combination withclips for rigid attachment upon the axles of the vehicles, and runnershaving standards pivotal-ly connected to said clips; of a plurality ofarms hinged together and the opposite ends of the outer arms beingpivotally connected to standards upon the respective runners', the saidarms being adapted to fold with respect to each other in but one generaldirection, and a tension device acting upon said arms constantly in thesame direction, substantially as described.

2. In a runner attachment for wheeled Vehicles, the combination withclips for rigid attachment upon the axles of the vehicles, runnershaving standards pivotally connected to said clips; of a pair ofrelatively short arms pivoted upon standards of the respective runners,an intermediate longer arm to the ends of which said shorter arms arehinged, and with respect to which said shorter arms hav ing a swing inbut one'direction, form a parallel line, and a spring acting upon saidintermediate arm constantly in one direction, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a runner attachment for wheeled vehicles, the combination with apair of runners, and means for detachably connecting the same to theaxles of the vehicles; of the relatively shorter arms C C pivotallyconnected at their outer ends to the runners, the intermediate longerarmC, to which the inner ends of said arms C C are hinged, the said shorterarms C C being capable of turning upwardly from the ends of saidintermediate arm C', stops preventing the downward turning of saidshorter arms relative to said intermediate arm, vand, a coiled springattached to said intermediate arm and to a portion of the vehicle,tending constantly to pull said intermediate arm upwardly, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW J. BOYD.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. HALT, J. STEPHEN GINSTA.

